Red vs Blue: Reconstruction
Trailer The trailer (alternating from a third person point of view to a helmet cam of one of the soldiers) shows two visible soldiers, both from Project Freelancer, the same project that Tex was in. The red and blue soldiers are identified as being from the Recovery program, from the mini series Recovery One and are designated Recovery Nine and Recovery Six, respectively. There is a voice-over for the trailer, as the action shown is silent. It is of what sounds like a board member, representative, head researcher or chairman of the Freelancer project, apparently giving a report on the findings of the two soldiers, and mentioning that despite what "others" stated, they had no warning of the coming incident. The trailer takes place at Outpost 17-B "Valhalla", and the recovery agents are there to investigate an incident at the outpost. The two agents find both Blue and Red soldiers dead and the bases barricaded. On one of the walls someone wrote: "we are the Meta". They then found a crashed ship and were killed shortly after by an unknown, camouflaged figure wearing white EVA armor. This is the mystery person that killed people and took their AIs and armor abilities from Recovery One. Red vs Blue Civil War Speculations It is interesting to note that the two soldiers, both gray with ODST helmets, are marked with both Blue and Red details. Whether this fits into the fact the Vic in the original Chronicles seemed to be relaying orders to command is unknown. It may indicate that the blue and red teams were, in fact, working together at one time. However, it may just be a way of differentiating between the two because it is revealed in Chapter 3 by Lt. Miller that the two sides are still at war. In addition, the agents are apparently from Project Freelancer and therefore take neither side. Another possibility is that Project Freelancer is the governing body of both Red and Blue team, as shown in the original Blood Gulch Chronicles, where Vic served as the middle-man for both Blue and Red command, evident that the civil war between the two is just a cover-up and to keep the teams occupied. This could be because every base mentioned so far in the Red vs Blue franchise is called an "Outpost", possibly guarding a perimeter of some sort. Another support of this theory is that in RvB: Reconstruction Episode 4, Agent Washington tell Church that "I know you're all wrapped up in your "Red vs Blue" battles, but this is important. Real military operations, not your fake simulation stuff.", implying that the "Civil War" is merely a simulation. Greek Letters In the end "we are the meta" switches to Greek letters, which in chronological order (different sized letters due to the font changing from caps lock to not all caps) says: *EAOFaete *F e aet N E OA *EiNS FU Y a *and finally, before it changes to Reconstruction, it says FECONSTFUCTION This is likely an anagram, used with Greek letters that resemble Latin ones, but this has yet to be confirmed. They then change into the word: Reconstruction Plot After all contact was lost with both Red and Blue forces in Valhalla, two Recovery agents are dispatched to gather information. They discover both teams barricaded inside their own bases, all killed. A cloaked being, later confirmed to be the creature from Red vs Blue: Recovery One (called The Meta), attacks the pair of agents and kills them. Later, a whole army of agents are sent to Valhalla, but the creature doesn't attack again. The large recovery team finds one remaining Red soldier, Walter. Through Walter's recount of the situation, Agent Washington and an apparent Field Director deduce the culprit to be O'Malley. Washington is sent for help on combat against O'Malley with the only people who have had experience, the Red and Blue forces of Blood Gulch. Chapter One It opens with a scene of a large amount of activity at Valhalla Outpost 17-B. Captain Rivas, apparently the CO of the operation is called by another agent or private announcing that they have found a survivor, Private Walter Henderson. The next is about Private Walter Henderson, who was called by one of the commanding officers of the Recovery program. He explains that when the ship crashed, the Blues captured it, and when they left, the reds only found some screwed up wires. Then there was an infection amongst the blues. Some trapped the others inside their base, and then destroyed the com towers of both Blue and Red teams. It became quiet and so the reds decided to send a squad out and discovered all blues were dead. The blues had tore off their helmet radios, though the reds believed it was to build something, Henderson knew they were breaking them. He also notices another body inside blue base. She wasn't blue, but her armor resembled that of another man who was witnessing the interview with Henderson and the boss at the time. The boss tells Henderson to ignore the man, and go on with the story. He continues by telling about how the reds took the headsets back to base and brought them online, the infection started for the red team. Soldiers were starting to act crazy and disobey orders. A man, thought by the reds to be help and was later revealed to be known as "Meta" first searched all the body's at blue base, then searched the infected body's at red base. In the end, he tried to kill everyone, succeeding in doing so to all but Henderson. Private Henderson is dismissed and then the boss talks to the other man in the room who turns out to be agent Washington. Apparently he had survived the encounter by a healing unit he took from York's armor and confirmed the mystery person is the same as he fought. Only it is getting stronger. It is next revealed that the A.I. Omega, A.K.A. O'Malley, has joined the Meta. Agent Washington is next sent to Coagulation outpost Alpha where he is to contact some soldiers who have had some experience with Omega. Chapter Two Agent Washington arrives at Blood Gulch Outpost Alpha (Blue base) which is seemingly deserted. Just as he contacts command, a female voice is heard shouting and cursing at him. It is Sister, who is the only blue left as she reveals all the others were relocated separately. Agent Washington and Sister exchange dialogs ending up with Washington walking away as Sister has decided in her mind that he is a cop. Washington arrives at red base and is suddenly stopped by a cardboard cut-out of Donut with Sarge doing a voice over from further within the base, warning him to stay away. Washington proceeds, being stopped along the way by cardboard cut-outs of Simmons and Grif, with Grif's cardboard shot several times by a shotgun, evident that Sarge still is determined to kill Grif even in his absence, and at last a cut out of Sarge himself. It turns out to be the real Sarge. Sarge explains that Grif and Simmons left following relocation orders, and that he has gone AWOL thinking that command has lost their minds. He says that the war in Blood Gulch is still going as there is still one blue left in the canyon. When Washington asks him if anyone can tell him about AI, Sarge says he should find Caboose as he has been infected before. He gets Lopez to give him the intercepted relocation orders for blue team saying that they may have been translated into Spanish so it'll be a little hard to understand. Chapter Three Chapter three begins with a voice over by the chairman of the oversight subcommittee asking the director of Project Freelancer for more information regarding the so-called "Meta." The screen scrolls sideways over damaged tanks and Warthogs and then shows Agent Washington meeting with a blue solider at the Outpost "Rat's Nest." He is revealed to be a blue officer, Lt. Miller. They discuss having Caboose leave with Agent Washington, who is stationed at that outpost at the time. The commander happily agrees, as he is glad to be rid of him. He states that Caboose is useless, saying that he only talked to the vehicles and didn't repair them. The Lt. Miller sends one of his soldiers, Jones, to retrieve Caboose. A gunshot and a scream is heard, and Caboose walks out. Caboose claims that Jones shot himself in the back. Washington tells Caboose that they need to retrieve information that only Caboose knows. Another blue walks over and says that Jones is dead, to which Caboose responds that it was nobody's fault. Washington then leaves with Caboose. Following the credits, a blue soldier in EVA armor with CQB armor shoulders is seen watching Washington and Caboose leave. As they depart, the color of the figure's armor changed to white and it turns around as the screen fades out quickly. This is obviously the Meta character, and it is assumed that it has been following Agent Washington for some time. Chapter Four Chapter four is set on High Ground. It involves Caboose and Agent Washington in search of Pvt. Leonard Church. Caboose assures Washington that Church is located here saying that Church attempted to hide his relocation orders from Caboose saying it was a game of hide and seek, also that the only way he would win was by dying before Caboose ever saw him again. Washington then asks if he has had experience with the Freelancer program, and Caboose states that Church dated Tex. Before Washington can finish his statement, most likely about how anyone could date Agent Texas, Church attempts to snipe them, missing the shot and claims it to be a warning shot. Washington takes cover but Caboose remains still trying to figure out who is yelling at him, recognizing the voice is Church after he fires and misses another round at Caboose. When Church finds out Caboose is there, he starts shooting like crazy (missing still), whilst Caboose is standing fixed in position. Washington comes out of cover and requests to be let in, Church says no and that "this is a secure facility, no one in; no one out." Washington points out that he will just have to walk through the giant hole in the wall to his right, and Church reluctantly lets them in. Agent Washington is contacted by Recovery Command and instructed to head with the Blue soldiers to Outpost 17 B or "Valhalla" to have the "experts" give their analysis of what happened there. Church is reluctant to leave and is especially annoyed that Caboose has not upgraded his armor from the Mark V to the Mark VI armor. It isn't until Agent Washington says they have found Tex's ship that Church decides to go with them. The female officer commanding Washington tells him that they have found all of the Blue Team members. Meanwhile, the Meta character is following them and intercepts transmissions between Washington and Recovery Command. The Meta alters them to issue orders as Red Command to Sarge, telling him to stop Washington at all costs. In the bottom corner of the screen is the beginning of the word Epsilon, Washington's old AI. At the end, Agent South (Recovery Two) appears along with Delta, also following them, and are in turn followed by the Meta. Chapter Five Chapter Five is set on Valhalla. It involves Church, Washington, and Caboose investigating the crash site of Tex's Pelican. Washington is refused entry to the crash area by the guards, who tell him that they have direct orders not to allow anyone in. They tell him that he could use the Red base to call Command to gain entry. Washington then comes up with a a plan to distract the guards so Caboose and Church can gain entry to the crash site. Washington sets off a massive explosion in the blue base, and Church goes through the gravity lift, rolling eighty feet and only stopping when he crashes into a Warthog parked behind the guards. Washington and Caboose then enter, and investigate the crash site. While they talk, the Meta, instead of using Camo to observe closely, zooms loudly across the map in the background on a mongoose. No one notices. Washington then attempts to access the last recording of the Pelican, but before he can do anything, Caboose interrupts and tries to talk to Sheila. Washington then activates the program, and then speaks to her as a human to an AI, which upsets Caboose. Washington convinces Caboose to let him continue, and they listen to the recording of Tex and Andy speaking to Sheila as they attempt to avoid a crash landing. Tex takes over manually, but is unable to stop the crash. The recording ends, and Washington informs Church that Tex's body was brought by the Blues to Blue base. Church, of course, wants to go see the body, but before they go, Washington gets a call from Command telling him to investigate a distress beacon. The beacon is a signal from Agent South Dakota, which states that she and her AI, Delta, are in danger. Washington receives the coordinates, and they set off. Note: In this paragraph it said that the Meta sped across the screen in a mongoose. Even though this happens it cannot be possible as at that time he would be shooting South like at the start on the next episode Chapter Six Chapter Six is set on High Ground. It involves Washington, Church, and Caboose responding to South's distress beacon. It opens with South pinned down inside a domed energy shield while the Meta fires at her with its Brute Shot. Delta reports that the Bubble Shield will collapse soon, at which point South tells him to transfer himself and her armor upgrade into a storage device, so she can escape while the Meta is distracted with pilfering Delta. Delta is about to comply when Washington, Church, and Caboose ride in on a pair of Mongooses, just as the shield collapses. Washington immediately engages the Meta, and tells Church and Caboose to keep South from escaping. Church tells Caboose she is on their side, and that Caboose should help her. Caboose promptly shoots her in the back, and claims "She got in the way when I was trying to help her". The Meta cloaks, and Washington explains to Church that it must have gotten the cloaking unit from Tex. He then tells Church that the Meta steals Freelancer upgrades, which causes Church to yell about Wyoming and run toward a Rocket Launcher on the ground. Telling Caboose to grab a pair of Spike Grenades Washington tells Caboose to throw the grenades, causing Caboose to stick it to the wall between them prompting Washington to claim, "That was the worst throw ever...of all time." To which Caboose responds, "Not my fault, somebody put a wall in my way.". Just as they jump over the wall to avoid the explosion, Church retrieves and fires the Launcher, right at the uncloaked Meta. The Meta suddenly stops time, using Wyoming's upgrade, and moves towards Washington. It pulls out a pistol and aims at Washington's head. Before it can fire a shot however, it twitches and sparks play across its armor, which causes it to run away and unfreeze time. The trio move over to South's prone form, and Delta reports that she is critically injured. Washington has Caboose insert Delta into his own armor. South says she can't walk, and Washington tells her that he won't leave her there to escape. Delta then mentions her attempt to abandon him, and that she did the same to Washington and her brother, Agent North Dakota. He ends by stating that she will only hamper their progress in her wounded state, and suggests that they "not allow her to hamper our progress. South begins to taunt him about shooting her before she can finish saying the word "shoot" Washington promptly pulls out a pistol shoots her in the head. The Chapter ends with Church commenting on the cold nature of the Freelancers, and Caboose stating that he has no trouble walking and takes more responsibility for the grenade incident. Chapter Seven After killing Agent South, Church and Caboose are convinced that Agent Washington is insane. Agent Washington claims that he is "perfectly sane, now if you excuse me I need to go blow up this dead body." As Wash proceeds to blow up her remains, Church asks Delta whether or not Washington is actually sane. To which, Delta responds that he is sane for his current status, but that is subject to change. Washington announces that he is finished and informs Delta that Command passed along their sympathies for South's passing. Washington explains that he blamed Caboose for the killing Agent South, much to his surprise Command apparently has a shortcut on their keyboard for his team killing reports (Ctrl+F+U). They then proceed to find one of their mongooses stolen by the Meta. Then, Agent Washington tells Church about Alpha, the original AI and how each other AI is allegedly a copy. His recovery beacon goes off with Command informing him that the Meta is actually Agent Maine. Washington's transmission is jammed and Delta is unable to receive the coordinates from Command, Church makes the point that the Meta is having fluctuations with his power supply from all the armor enhancements, which Delta agrees. Church then comments that he may know a location where the Meta could gain power. The group then sets off for the Power Station (Last Resort). It is assumed that the Meta knows of this location because of his assimilation of the AI O'Malley. In the sponsor's extended cut, two Red soldiers, Burke and DeLario, are shown standing guard on the wall. DeLario comments on how a soldier by the name of "Tubbs" always pulls motor pool duty, whereas he and Burke always have wall duty. The camera zooms in on DeLario as he talks, and he suddenly realizes Burke isn't responding. Turning to see what's happened to his friend, he finds himself face-to-face with the Meta. He only has enough time to ask "Where'd you get that helmet?" before the Meta nails him with the Brute Shot melee. Chapter Eight The episode begins with Church, Caboose and Agent Washington on the beach at a power station in Zanzibar (Last Resort) finding the Meta's cycle, along with a number of dead bodies and attempting to ambush the Meta. As Delta was standing by to assist Caboose, Church questioned him about Washington's reluctancy to discuss Alpha. Delta explained to Church that this was due to the events that took place during the AI experiments and of the failures of the experiment on Agents Washington, Maine, North, South and Carolina. Church, Caboose and Washington prepare to attack the Meta and Washington unexpectedly (to Church and Caboose) quickly engaged him in combat. However after a short fight, the Meta escaped, knocking Washington to the ground. Caboose and Delta attempted to flank round to the right to launch an attack on the Meta while Washington and Church attempted to pursue him. As Washington and Church made their way quietly onto the beach they recognized the sound of the radio from Red team's Warthog and Sarge, Grif and Simmons charged in on their Warthog making a loud and clumsy attempt at attacking Washington, as ordered by the Meta using manipulated voices, when they drove directly into a blade of the power stations turbine. After inquiring on the attacking team Church explained that they were the Blood Gulch Red team and that they were harmless and unintelligent. As the Turbine lifted the Warthog up, Simmons fires the Turret at Washington and Church, both of whom attempt to take cover. In a corridor within the power station complex Caboose lies unmoving on the floor as the Meta approached. Delta then appears and six other AIs appear around him saying "We missed you, Delta" and the episode ends. It has also been noted that as the Meta approaches Caboose, a character with active camouflage can be seen darting away from the doorway at the end of the corridor. Trivia *The Meta wears an EVA helmet, a SCOUT chest plate, one CQB shoulder, and one EOD shoulder. *The Meta appears to be able to change it's armor colors as well as having the ability to turn invisible and have overshields and stop time. *Luke McKay also made a comic making fun of the announcement trailer. It shows the Red striped Recovery Agent saying, "'We are the Mets?' What the hell is a baseball team doing here?" The Blue striped Recovery Agent then replies, ''"Would you clean your visor already?"''http://nikon.bungie.org/misc/artoflukemckay.html?display=lukemckay47f7e1155ad95 *Reconstruction was the period after the American Civil War. This is also a time after a civil war when they're rebuilding, possibly the civil war between the Reds and the Blues. NOTE: The director's commentary for Episode Three states that the reconstruction refers to the time after the Human/Covenant war. *In chapter two, Sarge doesn't actually mention Donut being transferred, just Simmons and Grif. *In chapter one, there are four Scorpions and six Hornets. It remains a mystery how this happened because only 2 Scorpions and Hornets can be placed on a map. Most likely they used an editor program to do this. Also note that there are more than 16 people on the screen, further supporting the idea that there was editing involved. *In the sponsor version of Episode 7, Burke and DeLario were actually cameos for Chris Burke (one of the lead crew members of This Spartan Life) and Frank DeLario (member of the Ill Clan), who voiced and played their own respective characters.